Bai Enpei (second left), secretary of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee, and his prefectural counterpart Luo Chongmin (first left) on a visit to Gejiu, escorted by Zhao Gang (second right), secretary of the CPC Gejiu Municipal Committee, and Mayor Wang Zhong (first right).	The Yunnan Tin Group ore dressing plant.	The city accepts the honor of a national-level paradigm for public health from the Ministry of Public Health.

Gejiu, so named by local Yi inhabitants, means “buckwheat plantation,” but this city in southeastern Yunnan Province is better known, domestically and internationally, for its large deposits of tin.

Gejiu city, one of the few in the world on the tropic of cancer, is 290 kilometers south of the provincial capital Kunming at an altitude that varies from 2,740 to 150 meters above sea level. Its 1,587 sq km territory supports a population of 453,300. Gejiu’s annual subtropical mountain monsoon brings balmy weather throughout the year. The verdant Yin and Yang mountains surrounding the old urban district, and the crystal Golden Lake rippling at its heart are a stunning sight when viewed from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.

Tin Bonanza

The Concise Encyclopedia Britannica defines Gejiu as: “A city in southern Yunnan Province, China. Ko-chiu is near the Vietnamese border and is site of China's most important tin-mining industry.”

Gejiu is among the largest and oldest tin producing areas in the world. It has a mining history of more than 2,000 years and is China’s largest modern tin industry base.

Human settlers first came to Gejiu 50,000 years ago. By the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C) they had developed a fairly advanced civilization. It was during the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C-A.D 23) that the Central Plains culture spread to the region and mining and smelting of tin, silver and lead developed. By the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) division of labor and cooperation had progressed to a massive scale in the sector. The local tin industry flourished in the early 18th Century. A limited share holding company, co-funded by the Qing Court and various entrepreneurs, was established in Gejiu in 1905 . It produced tin using imported techniques and machinery at the direction of foreign experts. This heralded the establishment of Yunnan’s modern metallurgy industry.

The tin sector of Gejiu had reached its zenith by the end of the 1930s, when more than 4,400 of its private factories and workshops were engaged in tin production. At that time it exported 11,000 tons of tin annually -- a level in excess of 90 percent of the national total. Tin was Yunnan’s No.1 export item.

Gejiu was awarded city status in 1951. Its tin industry was designated one of China’s 156 key industrial projects in the 1950s, and its local tin production received state support. Gejiu was the headquarters of the People’s Government of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture from 1958 to 2003. During this time it was the political, economic and cultural hub of the region.

Aside from its 1.82 million-ton reserves of tin -- one third of China’s total -- Gejiu is also a source of other nonferrous metals -- lead, zinc and copper -- as well as gold and silver. Its other resources include nepheline -- of which it has a three billion ton reserve -- feldspar and kaolin.

Gejiu now exports 110 mineral products in 11 categories to 47 nations and regions around the world. It has an 8.15 million-ton annual mining capacity, an 11.5 million-ton dressing capacity, and a 215,000-ton smelting capacity of nonferrous metal ores -- its smelting capacity constituting one third of the provincial total. Gejiu has so far produced 1.82 million tons of nonferrous metal, including 870,000 tons of tin. After decades of endeavor, Gejiu has built a booming modern industry dominated by multiple nonferrous metals, while chemicals, textiles, building materials, machinery, pharmaceuticals and food processing proceed apace.

The mining industry, particularly that of tin, has earned Gejiu huge wealth and a global reputation. Locally produced refined tin, under the trademark YT, is one of China’s prize products, and has been exempted from export inspection in the international market for the past 50 years. Gejiu’s mining sector is capable of sending ripples through European nonferrous metal futures. For instance, on May 9, 2006, a smelting subordinate of the Gejiu-based Yunnan Tin Company Group Ltd. temporarily suspended production while its equipment underwent an overhaul. The very next day tin prices at the London Metal Exchange took an upward swing, and the company’s share gained three percent on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, followed by three surges to the daily trade upper price limit.

Adapting to New Circumstances

Upon entering the 21st Century, it became clear that Gejiu needed to transform its local economy in order to preserve its resources. A strategy of enhancing staple sectors, exploiting relevant fields and fostering more pillar industries was consequently formulated. The city has made significant achievements in the reform of local enterprises and research and development of new- and hi-tech products. Most outstanding among them is the successful reorganization of the century-old Yunnan Tin Company Group Ltd., China’s largest state-owned tin producing, processing and exporting enterprise. This reform yielded immediate fruit when the group leapt to top position in the global tin business in 2005.

In the early days of China’s opening up and reform, tens of thousands of people flocked to Gejiu from all over the nation. All were intent on bagging a share of the city’s abundant mineral resources. This fever to make quick money led to much illegal and indiscriminate exploitation of mines. This put the city’s mining industry out of kilter and seriously impaired the province’s competitiveness in the international tin market.

The Yunnan Tin Group was designated spearhead of a reshuffle of Gejiu’s local mining sector in 2002. Its aim was to clear the way for healthy development of Gejiu’s tin industry. At its conclusion two years later, tin resources in the region became the preserve of the Group, which had the highest technical level in the city, rather than being fragmented to supply a legion of small factories. Today more than 80 percent of the Group’s tin resources are self-generated -- 20 percent higher than before the reshuffle. In 2005 the Group’s total assets soared to RMB 8.92 billion, and sales revenue hit RMB 5.69 billion, taking it from second to pole position in the world tin company listing.

The restructuring of mineral resource distribution within Gejiu’s tin industry ensures orderly, rational and efficient exploration of mines. It also advances environmental protection by rooting out wasteful and pollutant production and ensures more efficient and comprehensive use of resources by preventing redundant investment and construction. Should resources show any sign of depletion, planting in mining fields will recommence and farming resumed in a bid to minimize environmental damage.

In the past three years Gejiu’s industrial output value has grown from RMB 6.617 to 14.228 billion, while local revenue has risen from RMB 484 to 887 million. This growth bodes well for Gejiu’s switch to nonferrous center and economic engine of Yunnan Province.

History of an Industrial City

Tin has always been a main feature of Gejiu’s economy and, therefore, its history. One example is the Shiping Guild at the foot of Baohua Mountain. Guilds formed by migrants from various provinces were first established in Gejiu in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was during this time that China’s “tin rush” drew prospectors from all over the nation to the region. The frantic scramble for mines and money inevitably gave rise to cheating, intimidation and more serious crimes such as gang warfare and contract murders. Newcomers from the same provinces grouped into organizations in order to protect their common interests. There were 18 such guilds during this period. Their styles of architecture reflected the culture of members’ native provinces as well as elements of indigenous Gejiu culture. The Shiping Guild, one of the few that survived the vicissitudes of history, is now a site under municipal protection.

The Gejiu-Bisezhai-Shiping Railway, the first private railway in Chinese history, is another remnant of the city’s old tin industry. It was built on funds raised by local patriotic entrepreneurs through issuing shares in the railway. Construction started in 1915, and was completed 21 years later. This was the smallest railway in Chinese history, having a rail gauge of just 60 cm, which meant only the smallest and slowest of trains could travel along it. But it was the only railway wholly owned by China at the time. It was in any event a more efficient form of transport than man or beast of burden, and made significant contributions to tin production and exports in the region.

The state broadened the railway, apart from the 34-kilometer section between Jijie and Gejiu, to the standard gauge span in 1970. The last train to pull to a halt on the Jijie-Gejiu line, marking an end to traffic on the 70-year-old narrow-gauge railway, was in 1985. But the railway is still fondly remembered by the people of Gejiu as a main aspect of its history. The municipal government set up an exhibition hall devoted to the Gejiu-Bisezhai-Shiping Railway at the 2005 Gejiu International Tin Culture Festival. The old Jijie Railway Station was designated a historic site under state protection at the China Industrial Heritage Protection Forum in Wuxi in 2006. The city has since launched a mobile carnival along the narrow-gauge railway to promote its tin culture, among other tourism projects.

A City of Spring

Gejiu’s two mountains at its periphery and the lake at its center make it a rare plateau city of balmy weather and graceful landscape.

As their names suggest, Yang Mountain faces the sun while Yin Mountain shelters behind it. Yin Mountain, at 2,162.7 meters above sea level, is the taller of the two. It gives a clear panoramic view of the whole city. At nightfall, a myriad of lights of various hues sparkle along the streets and buildings at the foot of the mountain, forming a surreally gorgeous outline of the city.

Locals call the Golden Lake at the city center a surprise gift from heaven. Prior to 1954, Gejiu had a history of drought. All water from the high rainfall received during the flood season would flow into a hollow at the foot of Yin Mountain and evaporate. But something strange happened in August 1954: after a storm of three days and nights, instead of the mountain hollow soaking up the rain as it normally did, water gushed out in large volumes that billowed forcefully into the low-lying center of the city, submerging factories and homes. The municipal government, however, deemed the disaster a blessing in disguise. It built an embankment around the expanse of water, turning it into a 0.8 sq km artificial lake with a storage capacity of five million cubic meters. The city named it Golden Lake, connoting its preciousness and also Gejiu’s golden era of development.

Today the Golden Lake is the centerpiece of the city’s cultural district. On its banks are gymnasiums and courts for various ball sports. Its clear waters are due to water cleansing efforts of recent years. Thousands of joggers do laps around it each morning, and it is also the venue for the annual spectacular dragon boat race. The province has established its best-equipped para-glider training base on the bank. Those game to try para-gliding jump off Yin Mountain and make a graceful descent into the lake. The plazas, parks and sightseeing boulevard clustered around the lake extend to other parts of the city, forming a green framework.

Gejiu’s urban planning follows the principle of quality rather than quantity. It may be a modest domain, but is neat, complete in public facilities and services and environmentally friendly.

Economic strength is essential to the fruition of any city’s ambition. Gejiu knew its big day had arrived when China decided to build the Kunming-Honghe Economic Belt, in which Gejiu is one of the pivotal links. Gejiu is to establish a 30 sq km sci-tech park in its Datun Town in order to consolidate its strategic position within this program. Following the inauguration of the 2,360-m Gejiu-Lengdun Tunnel in October, 2006, the Grade I Gejiu-Datun Highway reached completion, at an investment of RMB 825 million, after two years’ construction. The twin tunnels on the route, totaling 6,900 meters in length, constitute the longest highway tunnel in Yunnan Province.

These projects, in addition to the functioning Honghe and Gejiu-Yuanyang highways; the Mengzi-Xinjie, Xinjie-Hekou and Yuxi-Mengzi expressways that are currently under construction; and the scheduled Shilin-Mengzi Expressway, Mengzi-Hekou Railway and Honghe Airport, will form an extensive three-dimensional network of modern transportation. This will further integrate Gejiu with the regional economy and the ASEAN Free Trade Zone.

Gejiu has reached a fairly high level of modernization, having scored well in six of the ten relevant indexes. Its urbanization rate stands at 68.3 percent, higher than the national average, and 350 out of every 10,000 of its residents have received a college education. Gejiu has received 12 national and 13 provincial/ministerial honors and prizes in the aspects of public health, urban planning, culture, living environment, and martial arts. The Ministry of Construction conferred on Gejiu the China Human Settlements Environment Paradigm Award -- setting a precedent in Yunnan Province -- in December 2001.

A Wealth of Natural Resources and Growth Opportunities

Mining is a major aspect of Gejiu’s economy but by no means the only string to its bow. Its ethnic folkways, rain forests, hot springs and unfathomable limestone caves are prime tourist attractions. Its abundant indigenous plants also have high botanical and pharmaceutical research value. Of the 18,000 higher plant species in Yunnan 80 percent can be found in Gejiu. They include the tree fern (Sphaeropteris lepifera), which is under the top-grade state protection, and wine palm (Caryota urens Linnaeus) under the second grade protection of the state. More than 200 tree, 100-odd flora, and 136 herb species grow in its mountains. They are also the habitat of 100 wild animals, one of them the endangered clouded leopard. These natural phenomena provide an aesthetic backdrop to Gejiu, but also give its residents a lead-in to a promising bio-economy.

In recent years the municipal government has formulated policies and measures to boost six sectors: cut flowers, bio-pharmaceuticals, seed production of hybrid rice and maize, fruits and vegetables, livestock, and tobacco. Saruma henryi Oliv., a key traditional Chinese medicine ingredient, grows exclusively in Gejiu. It constitutes the main ingredient in the locally produced Xiangguo Stomachic Digestive Pill. The Herba Erigerontis is a tiny pink wild flower that grows in large swaths. It has proved exceptionally effective in the treatment of cardio-cerebral-vascular diseases. Gejiu started to produce medicine ten years ago. It is currently undergoing GMP (good manufacturing practice) reform in the field with the aim of promoting it into a flagship in local green industries.

Gejiu has staged a slew of supportive policies for local agriculture since 2005, with the aim of stimulating agricultural production and increasing farmers’ incomes. This has further optimized the agricultural structure; production of major agricultural products is concentrated into areas of superior natural conditions and expertise. Statistics show that during the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005) the total revenue of Gejiu’s rural economy rose by 63 percent, and farmers’ annual per capita net income gained 62 percent to RMB 3,264.

After the central government’s campaign to build a new countryside began in early 2006, Gejiu stepped up its industrial and urban support for its rural economy and rural areas. In the Opinions on Building a New Socialist Countryside, released in August, 2006, Gejiu pinpointed its goals in the coming 15 years:

-- To double the agricultural output value of most villages in the city, and increase the net per capital annual income of local farmers to above RMB 8,000;

-- To increase the average schooling of local farmers to 10 years;

-- To set up cultural centers in every village, extend radio and TV broadcast and cooperative medical system to all rural areas;

-- Basically set up a social security system in rural areas, complete infrastructures, and improve living conditions;

-- Install democratic and standard management of village affairs, and enhance public security.

Gejiu has formulated a Five-Year (2006-2010) Plan for the Construction of New Socialist Countryside, vowing to revive its rural economy by founding bases for superior-strain rice, pigs, cows and herbs and introducing a modern corporate managerial pattern into agriculture.

Gejiu has mustered support from all relevant departments to this end. The urban planning section has increased funds for infrastructure construction in the countryside; the communication authority is working to extend roads to every village in the city; and the investment-inviting department promotes local agricultural and biological projects and upgrades its service to lure investors.

Given the speed of Gejiu’s progress in the past years, it has every reason to anticipate a renascence in all aspects of its economy and society in the coming decade.